Popov red card turns the tide as Baggies' woes continue

Last week was all about Peter Odemwingie and Twitter – Sunday was about Goran Popov, the Hawthorns spitter.

Albion’s ugliest week of the season just got that little bit more grim.

Gareth Bale scored the winning goal with a beauty but the turning point came when Popov was dismissed.

The left-back was given a straight red for spitting towards Kyle Walker during the opening throes of the second half.

It transformed a decent and vibrant Albion performance into one of eventual defeat.

And it didn’t end there – with Jonas Olsson flicking Vs to the home fans after being subjected to jeers as he mis-placed a pass.

Yet it had started so well.

The Baggies controlled the first half, limiting Spurs to one decent shot, but having three of their own in return.

Romelu Lukaku and Shane Long combined well with a midfield four behind them which had energy and creativity.

But a series of missed first-half chances was to cost Albion.

The dismissal was poor. Instead of clearing the ball, Popov dithered and allowed Walker to nip past him down the byline.

The ball went out for a goal-kick but Popov wasn’t done.

Turning to Walker, the defender spat out and was given a straight red card.

It was a vile and unnecessary act.

Boss Steve Clarke withdrew Lukaku to bring on Liam Ridgewell and from there Albion’s threat became sporadic.

They conceded thanks to a brilliant Bale strike but they were always struggling from the moment they were reduced in numbers.

Clarke hasn’t had the best of times in recent weeks but his side were genuinely worthy of more before Popov’s sending-off.

It summed up a fairly grim week for Albion.

The Odemwingie saga was bad enough but there was also an alarming lack of activity in the transfer market – despite the recent loss of two key midfielders and Jerome Thomas being within a few minutes of joining Blackburn before last week’s deadline. He might yet leave.

Chris Brunt gets the better of Aaron Lennon.

There were pluses for Albion. Graham Dorrans and Chris Brunt, especially in the first half, were very useful. The Lukaku-Long axis also blended in well – it was unfortunate it was split up too early.

If only they’d converted their chances in the first half, they might not have had to rally in the second.

There was an early chance for Long when he ran on to Lukaku’s knock-down. The No.9’s first touch took the ball too far away from him, allowing Hugo Lloris to race out and do just enough to put off the striker.

Lukaku tried his luck in the seventh minute. His shot was low and powerful but unable to get the better of Lloris. Regardless of missed chances it was a bright, energetic opening.

But there was a hairy moment 60 seconds later when Clint Dempsey powered a header wide from Aaron Lennon’s right-wing cross. It should have been on target and should certainly have tested Ben Foster. Either way, Albion were happy to see it glide wide.

Tottenham’s opening was bitty – a mixed bag of incisive play punctuated by poor distribution. They should have done better in the 17th minute when Moussa Dembele was put through behind Olsson.

The Spurs man continued his run towards goal but found his route blocked by Foster, who rushed off his line to slam the ball away.

The 22nd minute saw Albion carve open Spurs. Dorrans played an excellent ball into the feet of Long, who rolled his marker but found his shot blocked by Lloris. The ball fell back to Brunt but bounced awkwardly as the skipper teed up a speculative effort from 25 yards.

Albion’s midfield four were working well. Claudio Yacob and James Morrison were disciplined with Brunt and, especially, Dorrans given licence to roam forward to pick out runs.

A first-half issue for Albion was the movement of Bale. The Spurs man’s central role allowed him to maraud in the final third, often without any challenge.

Jermain Defoe was taken off for Spurs after suffering an ankle injury.

Albion went close again before the break. A long, low ball by Olsson saw Lukaku nip past and, just about, remain onside.

The Belgian continued his run and drove a shot high into a Smethwick End split by raucous cheers and anguished disappointment. The imagination was clearly there from Albion, the calmness wasn’t.

And there was certainly nothing calm or composed about Popov in the 48th minute.

Having jockeyed the ball out of play – unnecessarily playing himself into trouble where a simple clearance would have sufficed – the Macedonian turned to Walker and spat towards him.

Mark Clattenburg handed a straight red card. Regardless of whether Popov’s act was at Walker or not, he should not have put himself in the position of giving Clattenburg any excuse to dish out the card.

Ridgewell was brought on for the unfortunate Lukaku, who was sacrificed as a result of the dismissal.

Spurs pressed and pressed. Benoit Assou-Ekotto set-up Lewis Holtby, who was to find his way through Albion’s defence but not past Foster.

The goalkeeper was forced into work once more on the hour when Bale managed to get around Gareth McAuley from Assou-Ekotto’s ball and continued his run towards goal. The Albion No.1 acted quickly – he needed to.

The inevitable came in the 67th minute. Holtby looked offside when he collected possession on Tottenham’s right-hand wing – he wasn’t – play continued, with the ball making its way to Bale.

He stepped past Morrison and struck a gorgeous shot into the top corner of Albion’s goal. Bale was given too much space to manoeuvre but his execution was impeccable.

Albion brought on Markus Rosenberg and Marc-Antoine Fortuné for a final flourish but the game had that feel where Spurs were already in cruise control, heading towards victory.